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B is very useful in downhills where you would normally need to use the brakes to maintain speed, used it yesterday in an area where there's a downhill that leads to a small town where the speed limit drops - and there's often a speed trap. No need to ride the brakes. In manual transmission cars I used to drive in this area I'd have downshifted to put less burden on the brakes, with B it uses the motor/generator to both control speed and charge the batteries.

I, too, was frustrated by the lack of information on the B gear in the manual for my Highlander Hybrid. On my first trip down the pass in the car I slipped into B. I was not impressed. I was going about 50 at the top of the pass when I shifted in. I kept going about 50, way too fast for the descent. Today, for some reason, I was going about 35 when I shifted into B. It worked like a charm. Now I love it! I played with is a bit and I think that will maintain the speed you set because when I slowed down it maintained the slower speed. When I sped up a bit it maintained the new speed. The manual does warn against using it in certain conditions, but for prolonged downhill driving it is wonderful.

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This sounds just like the low gear on my Escape, or any other traditional automatic. The manual says "for downhill only." I'm used to uphill downshift in mountain driving. Is there a way to reproduce this?

Gordon

The B setting does stand for Brake and it is engine braking similar to shifting into low in a conventional car. However, using this bypasses the regenerative braking aspect and does NOT recapture the energy from your brakes. Use it only if you are going really steep down and your braking is keeping your KW meter all the way to the bottom.

Deceleration in “B” Range
While the vehicle is being driven with the shift position in the B, and decelerates, the wheels drive MG2
and MGR, causing MG2 and MGR to operate as a generator, charge the HV battery, and supply electrical
power to MG1. Accordingly, MG1 maintains the speed of the engine and applies an engine brake. At this
time, the fuel to the engine is cut.

The hybrid sports utility

The hybrid sports utility vehicles (SUVs) are high performance vehicles that are compatible to using two distinct sources of power- the gasoline engine and the electric motor. This provides a fuel efficient source of power.